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French conservative Juppe wins 2nd debate ahead of right-wing primary: pollster

Xinhua, November 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Conservative Alain Juppe, the polls' favorite to win the right-wing parties' primary competition and the upcoming presidential election, has become the most convincing for French voters, confirming his lead against his challenger ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, a poll showed on Thursday.

According to an Elabe survey for news channel BFMTV that aired the second round of the right-wing primary debates on the day, 37 percent of 985 voters questioned appreciated Juppe's proposals to handle the tricky issues of immigration, security and terrorism, outpacing Sarkozy who gained 24 percent.

Nevertheless, in the right-wing camp, Sarkozy was the best candidate to lead the conservatives in the 2017 presidential race for 31 percent of voters, compared to Juppe's 28 percent.

Juppe, 71, a former prime minister, portrays himself as the country's unifier "to lead to the path of peace and hope" in a bid to face "an unstable and dangerous world."

He warned that the far-right National Front (FN) would easily make it to the Elysee Palace if the conservatives failed to properly handle the country's economic challenges and social strains.

"If we ever fail, none of them (the other candidates) will succeed me because ... it may be the time of the National Front and that must be avoided at all costs," he said.

"If Sarkozy wins the primary, I will support it without hesitation," he added in a move to block the anti-immigration far-rightists from winning the 2017 election.

Shaping his campaign about "happy identity," the poll's front runner wants "an effort from those who are in the legal situation" to fix the migration crisis. As to security and terrorism threats, he proposed to better control borders and punish those who committed terrorist attacks abroad, in addition to recruiting more police officers.

"I held speeches of gathering, unlike some who held discourses of exclusion," Juppe was quoted as saying by local media.

Unlike the first debate during which candidates agreed with each other in a respectful tone, the second one featured vitriolic exchanges between ex-president Sarkozy, his former ministers of agriculture Bruno Le Maire and ecology Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, and ex-head of the UMP party Jean-Francois Cope over security and unique terms of ruling.

Supporters of center-right parties will elect their candidates in the 2017 presidential election in a two-round vote on Nov. 20 and 27.

The winner will face a Socialist candidate and Marine Le Pen, head of the FN. Endi